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Editors' Picks 1. The Carnage 2. Twilight Skies 3. An Old German Myth 4. A Cry from the Void 5. The Rift Walker Anthology 6. Shadow Kingdom 7. 8. 9. Heading 1 Portals Heading 2 The New Year is a portal to a new chapter in our lives. Hook You never know what is on the other side of a closed door. About This Newsletter A New Year is a portal leading from the past into the future. A door closing on today and opening onto tomorrow. A gate is a door, a portal, that lets you see a short distance into either the future or or the past, depending on which way you look after you pass through it. Letter From the Editor Portals, doors, gates, and New Years lead to new adventures, novels, chapters, characters, and, sometimes, a new life. Some doors are opened easily because they have no locks or locks that are not secure. Other doors are difficulty to open because they have good locks. There are, also, doors with alarms that sound when you open them or attempt to open them. Some doors or gates are interdimensional portals leading to another dimension, universe, galaxy, planet, into the past, or into the future. Gates are portals that lets you see a part of the path ahead, if it is not hidden by fog, trees or other vegetation. Other doors, even those with peepholes, obscure your view until you open them. Peepholes are wonderful inventions that, most of the time, lets you see who is on the other side, but little else. There are other ways to determine who or what is knocking at your door. There are windows beside the door, or doorbells with cameras; however, even these have their limitations. The marvelous thing about doors, in both the real world and novels, is that they limit the view of either you or your character. In some cases, magic or extra sensory powers might give the character a hint of what is on the other, still there are limits to both magic and extra sensory powers. This means that the characters can be surprised by what they encountered when they open the door or walk through the portal. A door can give the character access to a dungeon, a room for the night, a pub, or another dimension. It can be locked, unlocked, or guarded. Opening a door can let you carry the plot forward, reveals important background information, or reveal something about your character. How do you use door in your stories or novels? Do you have a story that features a door as an important plot device? At the bottom of this newsletter you will find a place to submit your comments or an item you want highlighted. Please don't be shy. I enjoy reading your comments and your stories. Editors Picks
Excerpt: ‘With emerging Artificial Intelligence technology comes great responsibility.’ We knew we were creating something that has never been done before and only existed in theory and researched hypothesis, but we took it lightly.
Excerpt: “Twinkle, twinkle little star, How I wonder what you ….”
Excerpt: “What are you doing in my house? I called 911. Who are you? And what’s that ridiculous outfit you have on?”
Excerpt: Captain Maggie O'Leary raised a transparent hand-held gadget, a hand terminal, developed because sound dies quickly in the cold, thin air of Mars. Still marveling at this latest leap in communication devices, she spoke into it. "Hank, you there?"
"Invalid Entry" Excerpt: I have struggled for a long time on how best to describe my journeys as the Rift Walker. For over two hundred years I have traveled between worlds witnessing horrors that even our mastery over science could never explain. I have seen empires built and civilizations crumble into nothing. I have seen mankind fall into the dust only to rise like a phoenix and then be dowsed again by uncertain fate. I have seen the playground of God’s and witnessed an unbending cycle that, like a circle, has no beginning and no end. I have seen worlds of mist and fire and walked within creatures so large they were planets themselves. I have seen and fought the dead, bargained with machines, and stolen artifacts so powerful that space and time itself were no obstacle. Yes, I have seen and done much but there was a time when I was an ordinary man. A time when technology was in its infancy, though we would scarce admit it. The truth is the rift phenomena would begin not with me but with my good friend Dr. Amil Orwen.
Excerpt: Calyistria slowly opened her eyes sunlight shone through the sash window. She stretched pulling back the covers; got out of bed and went to wash bowl. Today felt no different from any other day except for being a year older now twenty-one. Today her mother said before she died would be special. Her mother died when Calyistria was still young her father a few years since. Calyistria missed her mother most although she loved both her parents. She did not believe, however, what her mother told her when six years old. Something unusual would happen to her on this day something that would make her sought after by those in power but also feared by many. She shook her head. “Such nonsense.” She washed and dressed before a knock on the bedchamber door. Groups, Contests, and Activities
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